Antioxidants more than hype

“GingerLove is bursting with antioxidants!”

Antioxidants, magic, promising ingredients in good selling creams and nutritional supplements are also added to human and animal food for improved preservation and as enrichment. Antioxidants contribute to a longer and healthier life, and cause us not only to look better but also to feel better.

How do these mysterious antioxidants work?

Antioxidants reduce and neutralise the damage caused by free radicals. Free radicals are simple electrons that no longer encircle the nucleus of an atom. Hence, they are ‘free’ and ‘radical” enough to cause damage. They arise on the one hand through an oxidation process, a normal part of our metabolism, and on the other hand through our daily exposure to environmental factors.

Antioxidants are molecules that are capable of slowing or preventing this oxidation. Antioxidants attack these free radicals and prevent them from having a harmful effect on our health.

Where can antioxidants be found?

The required dosages of antioxidants can be obtained via a properly balanced diet with a sufficient variety of vegetables and fruit.

The best known antioxidants are:

– Vit. A. and carotenoids that can be found in carrots, broccoli, sweet potatoes, peaches

– Vit. C. found in citrus fruits, strawberries, spinach, tomatoes

– Vit. E. found in seeds, nuts, green vegetables, vegetable oil

– Selenium found in fish, grains, eggs, chicken, garlic.

Other sources of antioxidants are flavonoids and polyphenols found in soya, red wine, blueberries, common grapes, tea, lycopenein tomatoes and pink grapefruit, watermelon and lutein in dark green vegetables.

A poorly balanced diet can lead to a shortage of antioxidants. The elderly or sick who due to circumstances eat a less varied diet are sometimes helped by an extra supplement of antioxidants.

The importance of a properly varied diet cannot be emphasised enough. A good tip is that ¾ of the food on your plate should consist of colourful food. This range of colours on your plate supplies the antioxidants needed for your immune system to function optimally.

Antioxidants for that matter are not only found in food but also in drinks such as green tea, ginger tea. No ginger in house? No problem, soon you can easily prepare the tastiest ginger tea, GingerLove, at home via the on-line GingerLove webshop!